Grading the Bucks: Week 1--Miami (OH)

The Urban Meyer era kicked off with a whimper for a quarter then an explosion for the remainder of the game.  There were many positives, but this team is by no means perfect or near the level of Bama or USC.  There is always work to be done, but I'll take a week 1 46 point win.

Offense: B+
Overall, there was a lot of excitement in the sense that we ran more than simple Dave off-tackle runs.  Miller is an explosive runner, but he's clearly still working to pick up the spread option attack.  He's extremely dangerous in the open field as the hapless Miami defender found out.  The first quarter was atrocious offensively as Miller looked like he reverted to high school thinking that he had to be the focus on every play.  Once he started distributing the ball to the backs and receivers, it opened the game up immensely.  I'm a little disappointed with the improvement (or lack thereof) in the passing game.  Braxton is continually throwing over receivers when he gets excited, but when he settles down, I see great potential.  The biggest positives on this side of the ball were the emergence of Hyde as a legitimate threat and more importantly, some actual receivers.  The receivers were a major question mark entering 2012 and they answered quite well.  56 points is hard to scoff at, but we can be much more efficient.

Defense: B
The line failed to get much pressure but I believe that was due to the dink-and-dunk offense run by a savvy experienced QB and the lack of a steady blitz.  I liked the run stopping ability of our D-line and linebackers when needed.  The biggest question continues to loom in the secondary.  Miami should have had an EASY 10 point cushion is not more if their receivers could catch a ball.  Roby looked pretty competent, but Howard continues to suck (don't give me the 2 INTs--he was burned all day).  I'm very concerned about the regression of Christian Bryant and C.J. Barnett as they were studs a few years back but they've seemed to lost most of their step.  The linebackers also have work to do in pass coverage.  Thankfully, we don't play a lot of experienced pass-happy QBs on the schedule, but it's a major concern going forward.

Special Teams: B+
A good special teams performance as nothing really shocking on special teams.  Yes, they scored a TD due to an errant snap but that was more a factor of Miami suck than OSU special teams.  The kicking game was fine, Buchanan looked good, kickoff coverage was fine.  Nothing flashy but nothing problematic.

Coaching: B+
Many will point to the loss of points with the decision to go for the TD at the end of the half.  I would have preferred a different play (I wanted a 5-wide; QB power run up the gut), but the decision was fine with the solid lead.  I felt the game was called pretty well offensively after the adjustment was made in the 2nd quarter to take the onus off Miller. Once he realized he had plenty of talent around him, he settled into a groove.  The defensive playcalling was to sit in coverage with 8 people and send 3 to help the less talented secondary.  I think the future will see more blitzing schemes to rush the QB as we saw more people in coverage didn't necessarily translate into better D. Urban's first game was a solid performance on both sides but he must love the fact that there is plenty on which to work.

Overall: B+
Not giving the A because I saw plenty of room for improvement, but I like what I saw from the 2nd quarter on after the debacle of last season.  Let's hope this continues in the future again better teams.  Don't sleep on the Golden Knights.  They're much better than most will give credit.